This invention relates to a multiple needle tufting machine for forming loop pile and cut pile, and more particularly to a tufting machine for forming loop pile behind cut pile simultaneously in the same fabric.
Heretofore, tufted fabrics including spaced rows of loop pile stitching and cut pile stitching have been formed in various ways. One method is to run a base fabric through a multiple needle tufting machine to form spaced rows of cut pile stitching and then run the same fabric through a second tufting machine to form rows of cut pile stitching in a predetermined pattern relative to the cut pile stitching.
Another method of forming rows of cut pile stitching and rows of loop pile stitching is disclosed in the prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,019,748 of J. L. Card, issued Feb. 6, 1962, in which loop pile hooks are transversely offset from the cut pile hooks and the loop pile hooks are provided with loop stripping fingers since the bills are pointed in the same direction.
The U.S. McCutchen Pat. No. 2,879,729 discloses a pair of loopers pointing toward each other and adapted to be moved toward and away from each other to cooperate with a single needle, but the loopers do not move toward and away from each other simultaneously, and one looper is designed to catch and hold the loop for engagement by the other looper.
The U.S. Fedevich Pat. No. 2,889,791 discloses two rows of staggered needles and a pair of corresponding rows of looper hooks. However, the looper hooks are pointing in the same direction to form only loop pile.
The U.S. Nowicki Pat. No. 2,990,792 discloses a row of cut pile hooks behind a row of loop pile hooks with the corresponding bills pointing toward each other, and adapted to move toward and away from each other. However, the bills of the loop pile hooks are spaced above the bills of the cut pile hooks, so that the hooks cooperate with different yarn loops passing through vertically spaced eyes in the same needle, so that one row of loop pile is stitched or superimposed upon another row of cut pile loops.
The U.S. Gebert Pat. 3,025,807 discloses a row of front needles and a row of rear needles spaced behind the front needles in a multiple needle tufting machine. The looper apparatus includes a unitary looper bracket supporting a plurality of transversely spaced cut pile hooks in front of a transversely spaced row of loop pile hooks. The cut pile hooks are adapted to cooperate with the front needles, and the loop pile hooks having bills pointing rearwardly in the opposite direction from the cut pile hook bills are adapted to cooperate with the corresponding rear needles. However, in Gebert, the front and rear needles are mounted and driven in alternate reciprocation relative to each other, while both the cut pile hooks and the loop pile hooks move simultaneously together in the same direction. Thus, either the cut pile hooks operate with the front needles in their lowermost position while the rear needles are raised, or the rear loop pile hooks cooperate with the rear needles in their lowermost position while the front needles are raised.
The U.S. Dedmon et al Pat. 3,241,507, in FIGS. 5-15, disclose a cut pile hook selectively alternating with a loop pile hook having a reverse bend to form either cut pile or loop pile in the same row of stitching.
In prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,953 of Roy T. Card et al, issued Nov. 18, 1975, spaced rows of loop pile and cut pile are formed upon front and rear staggered needles, respectively, supported in the same transverse needle bar. The looper apparatus includes front loop pile hooks and rear cut pile hooks, the bills of which point toward each other for cooperation with the corresponding front and rear staggered needles. The loopers are driven so that they move simultaneously toward each other to cooperate with the needles in their lowermost position, or simultaneously away from each other when the needles are in their elevated position.
When tufted fabrics are formed with the apparatus disclosed in the R. T. Card Pat. 3,919,953, occasionally, the rear needles which cooperate with the cut pile hooks strike a previously formed loop pile tuft formed by the loop pile hooks, disrupting the uniformity or the pattern of the pile in the fabric. Such disruption, referred to as "tagging", may be caused by the rear needle either driving the caught loop pile loop deeper into the fabric, or breaking the yarn or the fibers in the yarn.